FREIGHTLINER CUSTOM CHASSIS SERVICE CENTER

Today we headed for the Freightliner Custom Chassis Service Center in Gaffney SC. Freightliner made the chassis for our motor home. This means they made the frame and mounted the CAT motor, Allison transmission and the air brakes/air ride stuff.

This is what one looks like before it gets sent to the manufacturer of motor homes, in our case, Fleetwood.

RVers with this chassis rave about this Gaffney operation. They know the chassis like no one else (since they built it a few miles away) and their prices are very fair. We especially want to come here to baseline where our rig is on maintenance since it is new to us. It probably won't be cheap. The tech will also show me where all the filters are and how to do operator maintenance on the system.

Ms Pat has an amazing reputation on RV forums for her management of service appointments and customer service. This reputation is well deserved. What a great person and representative of Freightliner. We met with her and went over what needed to be done.

They have quite a few parking places complete with 50 amp electric and free wifi. And the wifi is awesome! Water and sewer dump are in the parking area. They don't charge for this!

We left Savannah at 0935 and arrived at 1447 (283 miles). We came mostly I-95, I-26, and I-85 since we needed to be here in time to go over what we wanted done. Bought 34 gal of diesel @$2.49/gal.

17 Feb 2017 Service Day.  At 0800 Techs Devin and Ken showed up at the rig to take it to the shop. Before they moved it, they answered some of my questions. Great, knowledgeable guys. They said to give them a few minutes to get the rig on the lift and time to check it out and then we could come in and see it from the underside. The facility has a nice waiting room with TV, coffee, etc. Very nicely done. Pets are welcome. We found a doggie (and cat) day care nearby.

Wow! The shop is immaculate and amazingly equipped. It was amazing to see this honker, and others, up in the air.

Ken, Devin and Robin

Ken, Devin, and Robin

Great news! The rig is in great shape! The coolant recovery tank had a crack (which is common per RV forums) and the shrader valve in the dash air was broke. Other than that it was all fluid and filter changes and a ton of other checks and adjustments. They did what they call a M3, 24K mile service. The M3 list is HUGE, Included in M3 and other things they did include:

• Oil (19 qt) and filter
• Fuel filters and spare
• Fuel water separator and spare
• Air dryer kit
• Air filter
• Transmission filter kit and fluid change
• spare belts
• Axle gear oil/grease
• Coolant change
• Replace coolant surge tank
• Complete service of Onan generator (oil, filters, coolant, fuel)
• Replaced shrader calve in dash air and recharge
• Replaced steering column boot
• fixed our mirror
• Tour of rig on lift. 

The bill was $2K. We're happy. We know the rig has been thoroughly checked to factory standards. Sure, something can still break, but we've mitigated the risk. Next years service should only be around $600.

Is this Gaffney facility good? They have zip, zero, nada, appointments available until 7 June!!!! People are already making appointments for next year.

Thanks Pat! Thanks Devin and Ken. First class service.